DOJ denies actor’s plea for time to answer raps

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Justice (DOJ) has thumbed down a request of actor-director Zoren Legaspi for more time to answer the P4.45-million tax evasion charge filed against him by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) last month.

In a two-page letter, Legaspi’s lawyer, Ricardo Revo, asked the DOJ to move the deadline for submission of the counter-affidavit from June 6 to June 20 because the celebrity has to attend to a personal matter in Tacloban City on that day.

But investigating Assistant State Prosector Stewart Allan Mariano rejected the request, saying the respondent was given ample time to submit an answer to the BIR complaint.

In the first hearing last May 28, Legaspi’s accountant Flora Capili cited “discrepancies” in the tax records of the actor from companies that paid his services. She specifically cited four different tax identification numbers supposedly being used by the actor.